In recent years, there is an increasing demand for high-density recording in magnetic recording mediums. In particular, in video tapes, a very high density recording has been required with an increasing demand for making higher the bands of recording frequencies, and hence it has become popular to use a magnetic powder with a smaller particle diameter.
Making the particles of a magnetic material finer to increase its BET value brings about a smoother surface of a magnetic layer, making it possible to carry out high-density recording, and thus bringing about an improvement in electromagnetic conversion characteristics of the magnetic recording medium. The magnetic layer surface made smoother in this way, however, causes an increase in the friction resistance between the magnetic layer and a magnetic head during the traveling of a magnetic recording tape, in particular, a video tape, so that the magnetic layer of the magnetic recording medium may be damaged after its use for a short period of time, resulting in an increase in sliding noise, and also resulting in adhesion of milky-white foreign matters to the magnetic head, which are brought from the tape thus damaged.
In other words, the attempt to improve the electromagnetic conversion characteristics at high frequencies and the attempt to suppress the increase in sliding noise after repeated traveling of the tape and also to suppress the adhesion of the stated milky-white foreign matters are contradictory to each other.